Home energy saving tips for Winter
With chilling winds blowing around your property, especially in Winter, you feel all the cracks and faults in your property. Every homeowner knows that preparation for Winter is best done early so that you can prepare to fix those faults and save energy. If you are a Snowbird homeowner and leave home every winter or for long seasonal periods, housesitters can help you save money and unattended accidents. Here are some top home energy saving tips for you to check your progress.
There is nothing like a warm home in WinterEnergy Saving Tips You Can Do At Your Home During Winter
Winter is here again, and your electric consumption is expected to rise due to increased energy usage to keep yourself warm. You will turn on your electric blankets, heaters, and who wouldn’t love a hot shower during these cold winter months?
Every winter, electric consumption for residential houses increases, and as the usage increases, so does the electricity bill. However, there are ways to help you save energy during the winter months. Here are some tips you can try this winter to get you started this winter and see how your electricity bill differs from the past winter.
Turn Off and Unplug
All appliances that are not in use should be turned off and unplugged. These unused appliances still use electricity if they are left plugged, and you will be wasting energy just by neglecting your plugged and unused devices.
This is the time to make it a habit to unplug unused appliances, including that unused hairdryer and coffee maker. Additionally, check your TV and make sure that it is turned off and not on standby mode. To make sure, it is still best to unplug it.
Make Use Of Storm Windows
Storm windows have been available for years already, and there are new ones that can be used all-year-round. They can be opened and closed like an ordinary window. This type of window will help you cut heat loss during winter, which in return enables you to save more energy.
Windows are the primary source of heat loss, but storm windows can help you decrease heat loss by 50%. This is one of the most worthwhile improvements you can make to your home as it will help you save money over time.
Use Energy Efficient Light Bulbs
Days in winter are shorter than ordinary months, which means every household uses lights longer than usual during winter. Prolonged usage of lighting also contributes to the increase of your electric bill. Using energy-efficient light bulbs will help you manage your energy consumption better. LED and CFL light bulbs are more efficient than the most commonly used incandescent.
Consider Installing Programmable Thermostat
A programmable thermostat can be set to turn down on its own. It can help you save energy big time as it can be set at night while everyone is fast asleep, and no one can turn the heater down or during the day when everyone is at school or work.
The new generation of programmable thermostats called the smart thermostat has a feature where it sends you an energy consumption report each month. This report will make you aware of your energy usage and can be used to manage your energy consumption.
Choose The Best Electricity Provider
Before choosing an electricity provider for your home, it is recommended to compare different electric companies to find the best price first. After comparing, select the company that can give you a low electric rate to save your monthly electric bill.
Thus, if you live in Pennsylvania, which February is their snowiest month of the year, you can visit this site so you can save up more energy and accordingly save up money too.
Keep out the cold air – close the doors and windowsAlways Keep The Doors Closed
Heaters are more effective in closed spaces, which is why you need to keep all the doors closed. It will trap the heat inside every room, which means you will use less energy to warm your house.
Additionally, it is best to seal all gaps on your doors and windows. This will ensure the heat will not escape from these gaps. You can use a thick floor mat to block any cracks under your door. Or use thick curtains for your windows to help trap the heat inside.
Choose the Right Clothing
Choosing the right clothes according to the season you are in will help you save energy. For example, during winter, you need to wear thick clothes to help keep your body warm. Using warmer clothes also means that you can turn down your thermostat.
You can save a lot by turning down your thermostat just by one degree. It’s a great start. Then make sure you are wear appropriate winter clothes to keep you warm when your thermostat is set a degree lower than the usual.
Use High-Density Insulation
Managing vacant property efficiently
Find housesitters
When you are leaving your home to go on holiday, resist the urge to leave all the lights on while you are away. This can be very expensive and waste energy especially if you are on holiday for several weeks at a time. Naturally, you will be concerned about the security of your home and property. A better way to manage the security of your home and the energy bills is to find housesitters. Join a housesitting website to find live in housesitters who will guard your home.
Free sitters – Yes, free housesitters!
If you choose the right sitters from a professionally run website you can also find free housesitters. These sitters will move into your home as live in house and petsitters. So they can also offer petsitting to look after any resident pets. They will pay their own way and care for your home and pets as if they were their own. The people who choose to do this are often retired or semi retired folk who like to travel and have active holidays. They exchange their time and services for free accommodation. It’s a fair exchange. And in this way you can find free housesitters. Plus they offer added advantages…
Snowbird home protection
If you live in the Northern Hemisphere and your home must cope in very cold weather in Winter housesitters can help. Regular Snowbirds who leave for sunnier climes in the Winter months know the value of live in housesitters. They can manage your property and the snow gathering outside your front door. They also will be present to manage any accidental situation cause by extreme weather conditions in your absence. Housesitters can be a real God-send in your absence.
Garden sitters help eliminate signs of an empty property
One real giveaway sign of an empty property is a neglected garden. Your housesitters can also act as garden sitters to help you maintain the condition of your garden so that opportunists do not think it is abandoned and therefore worth breaking in.
Plant sitters
Finding these garden sitters to act as plant sitters will also help you nurture your plants in your absence. This will not only maintain your plants saving any money you had spent in costly nurseries, but it also means you can return to a well ordered garden, thriving rather than parched, overgrown or neglected.
Home energy saving tips – The takeaway
There are so many ways to save energy as the homeowner, whether it is during winter or throughout the year. You only need to be more knowledgeable about energy-saving techniques and alternatives. By doing the tips provided, you can make sure that you will have a lesser electric bill these upcoming months.
FURTHER READING ON KEEPING HOME AND MAINTAINING PROPERTY
At Housesitmatch.com we like to offer useful and practical articles on topics for our readers. In this selection we offer you a number of suitable pieces from our own blog on renovating, keeping and maintaining a home.
Top tips to cut energy bills at home
Are your energy bills high in the Winter?
Maintaining a sustainable lifestyle at home
Switching to solar – The big benefits
Housesitters keep pets safe at home and save money
What a housesitter does – Top 10 responsibilities
